Canada federal election Oct. 1

CBC News will bring you the latest news from the campaign trail in our live blog every weekday from now until election day, Oct. 19.

The decision will depend on what the trend in that particular riding is. Strategic voting is going to be huge, and what voters are looking for is enough information to help make the decision for which candidate can defeat the conservative.

Wonder if this will get as much media coverage as the conservative candidates who had to resign gotChell Marievia Facebook at 1:12 PM

So, if someone wants to vote Liberal in this riding - how do they do that?? If her name is still on the ballot but she has resigned - is it a spoiled ballot? Or, will the fill the candidate position if it won?Patricia Valantine-Larosevia Facebook at 11:56 AM

This is utterly ridiculous that people must step down for these reasons. She did not say anti-semitic or anti-muslim statements. I could say mosques, churches, synagogues or any other religious building are "brainwashing" stations and still believe in the freedom of religion. I just don't believe in religion. Accusing the oppressed of becoming the oppressors is, not only, an accurate statement it is not, in any way, saying the Jewish people are lesser than other people and deserving of bad things to happen to them. It merely means that Israel should consider treating Palestine more humane. RIDICULOUS!Ry J Wickvia Facebook at 11:05 AM

What you do on Facebook does not stay in Las Vegas.Micheline Landryvia Facebook at 8:12 AM

What kind of crazy trend is this that politicians can't have personal opinions any longer, and should exclude themselves from running if those opinions happen to be unpopular with the PC crowd?

I'm not sure under what pressure Ms. Thomas resigned, but she should be reinstated immediately - all opinions have a place in political discourse!Chris Weldonvia Facebook at 8:15 AM

I will wait for you to gain some experience in life. Please respond when you have a tenure higher than 1 year at any one employer and perhaps have completed a degree rather than talking about starting one.

A Conservative candidate in Nova Scotia is under scrutiny for telling a a young voter to "gain experience in life" in a Facebook exchange after the voter pressed the candidate on how the Conservatives would improve the economy and protect the environment.

Canada's high-tech sector is looking to the federal election campaign for a vision of its future -- but so far, its leaders say, the politicians have turned a blind eye.

Entrepreneurs are calling on the parties to clarify their plans to foster innovation, education and coding literacy. Thousands of skilled knowledge workers are struggling to decide how to vote, they say.

"I don't know that I support any of them, because I don't support their vision for the future of Canada right now," said Jeremy Shaki, co-founder of Lighthouse Labs, which ran free HTML coding camps for 2,500 people in four cities over the past year.

"In a massively long election, there is a huge section missing."

Vancouver-based Shaki and his co-founder Khurram Virani sent an open letter to the federal parties asking to "kickstart" a digital conversation. They call the tech sector the "beating heart to drive progress" and warn that the country could fall behind internationally without champions on the national level.

They don't have specific demands as such -- at least not yet. For now, all they want is to be part of the conversation.

"We're asking them to bring it up and start the discussion, because it can't be a bottom-up approach forever," Shaki said.

"The industry here has done as much as it can off very little funding and very little money to advance technology here ... but the leaders of this country have to be the ones to help the rest of Canada to embrace it."

The issue of the niqab will be resolved in the Supreme Court, but the question of relations between the majority in Quebec and its minorities, including the Muslim minority, must be settled in Quebec outside an election campaign.

Canada's largest engineering and construction firms are gearing up to prosper from electoral promises and a massive need to upgrade North America's crumbling infrastructure.

Industry observers say SNC-Lavalin, Aecon, WSP Global and Stantec, along with structural steel provider Canam, are best positioned to prosper from the trillions of dollars in spending over the coming years if Canada's three main political parties make good on their promises to dole out billions on infrastructure.

Aecon CEO Terrance McKibbon said the interest in infrastructure projects, especially for transit upgrades, is unprecedented.

"We've never seen this kind of demand for this type of project, this type of work," he said in an interview.

The company, which has joined SNC in a consortium working on Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown project, sees lucrative opportunities in the country's largest cities for transit, water and water

treatment.

Benoit Poirier of Desjardins Capital Markets said the Conservative, NDP and Liberal platforms are "positive" for engineering and construction firms even though the prospect of a minority government could influence how much will end up being spent.

Almost 1,800 candidates representing 23 different parties will be vying for Canadians's votes when they go to the polls on Oct. 19.

And about one third of those candidates are women -- a small 1.5 percentage point increase over the 2011 election.

Equal Voice, a non-partisan advocacy group dedicated to increasing women's participation in politics, said it's "thrilled" with the progress but noted that at this rate it will take "another 11 federal elections to reach anything approximating gender balance on the ballot. Forty-five years."

The Conservatives and NDP are running full slates, with candidates in each of the country's 338 ridings.

The Liberals were reduced to 337 candidates on Wednesday when Cheryl Thomas quit after anti-Muslim and anti-Israel comments she'd made on Facebook surfaced. Thomas's name will remain on the ballot, but she said she won't take her seat if she wins.

The Greens are running 336 candidates, with holes in Labrador and the British Columbia riding of Kelowna.

In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois is running a full slate, with 78 candidates.

According to Equal Voice, 33 per cent of the candidates of the five main parties are women.

The NDP leads the pack with 43 per cent women, followed by the Greens with 39 per cent, the Liberals with 31 per cent, the Bloc with 28 per cent and the Conservatives with just 20 per cent.

The Conservatives would revive a bill banning genetic discrimination if re-elected, Finance Minister Joe Oliver said in a debate on issues important to the Jewish community.

The Protection Against Genetic Discrimination Act, which amends human rights and privacy laws, was introduced in June but died when Parliament was dissolved.

Oliver vowed Wednesday to reintroduce the bill in the first session if the Conservatives form the next government, but said the provinces -- which have jurisdiction over insurance and employment laws -- would have to take action as well.

His two opponents -- NDP candidate Hal Berman and Liberal Bill Morneau -- also promised to make it illegal to discriminate based on the results of genetic testing.

There are currently no laws in Canada that specifically prohibit genetic discrimination, although there appears to be broad political consensus around the issue.

The issue was flagged as a priority by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which hosted the debate in the Toronto riding of York Centre.

B.C. Conservatives say if their party forms another federal government, it will create a formal list of criminal gangs, similar to the way it did for designated terrorist groups.

The party is also promising $2.5 million more per year on efforts to steer teens away from gang activity.

Former MP Stockwell Day unveiled the plan with candidate Dianne Watts, the former mayor of Surrey, B.C. -- a city recently racked by a spasm of gun violence.

They say the gang list would ease the requirement for Crown prosecutors to prove repeatedly in individual cases that a specific gang is a criminal organization.

Day and Watts also pledged to increase spending by $2.5 million a year on a fund aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs.

Last May, the federal government promised to hire 100 additional Mounties for Surrey and spend millions more to fight a low-level, drug-fuelled turf war that has set off scores of shootings andkilled one man.

The New Democratic Party released its plan for post-secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan campus this morning. The party promises to immediately start phasing out interest on federal student loans over the next seven years.

It speaks volumes about ones management skills when they are quick to place blame on a subordinate.Peter Southernvia Facebook at 3:04 PM

I'd like to applaud that student, for asking intelligent well thought out questions in a very courteous manner! Many adults could learn from him. My son, who is 19, is well read, keeps himself up to date on a daily basis with current affairs and world news... Researches the sources and so on... He is, in my opinion, more able to comment and share political views than many adults that have so called better/longer life experiences!!Leah Mitchellvia Facebook at 3:20 PM

Delegate the task. Not the responsibility. Leadership 101.André Lavictoirevia Facebook at 3:27 PM

Here is a young man with a genuine interest and appropriate query.Honestly, no matter which camp you're in, you have a moral obligation to set a good example.This is a democracy, so we're led to believe.Brigitte Merciervia Facebook at 3:12 PM

SoundCloudCBC Yukon has put together a panel of 3 Yukon First Nation people under the age of 30 to talk about issues that matter to them, in the lead up to the federal election. Dana Tizya-Tramm, 28, is a citiz

A ban on long-term expatriates voting from abroad has drawn the ire of Canadian business groups in Asia, who argue the measure runs contrary to both their rights and the country's interests.

In an open letter decrying the rule, the five groups based in Asia call on members of Parliament and Canadians to help their cause.

Their appeal, which comes as Canada attempts to close an important Pacific trade deal, carries the signatures of Canadian chamber of commerce members in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan under the heading, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Really?

"We, the undersigned, represent not only business and trade interests, but organizations committed to enlarging Canadians' and Canada's presence internationally," the writers state in the letter obtained by The Canadian Press.

"As such, we believe the right to vote is a fundamental, if not the fundamental, right underpinning Canadian democratic values."

Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre would not say whether a re-elected Tory government might pursue a ban on face coverings for public servants similar to the one it supports for citizenship ceremonies.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised new money for two big transit projects Thursday in Montreal and touted his plan to run deficits and spend on infrastructure ahead of Friday's leaders debate in Quebec.

Trudeau made the announcement in a province not unfamiliar with deficits, and tried to differentiate himself from NDP Leader Tom Mulcair as the only progressive option on the economy and spendingstimulus.

"Mr. Mulcair made the wrong choice. He chose not to listen to what Canadians have been telling all of their leaders over the past year -- that now is the time to invest, now is the time to grow our economy," Trudeau said at a forklift repair plant.

Throughout the question-and-answer session with reporters, Trudeau frequently repeated the accusation that Mulcair made the wrong choice by promising to balance the budget -- even while fielding a question on post-secondary tuition.

It's a pretty clearly sociological indication of people feeling disenfranchised by the political process. In the end, we shouldn't be worried about the damage of property. Rather, we need to look at the populace and question what motivates this behaviour? That's the real issue to address.Ryan Kennedyvia Facebook at 4:39 PM

Vandals everywhere. In a sense, it is good since some people are more involved. BUT, it is better to express such passion through the ballot. VOTE!Monto Gawevia Facebook at 4:43 PM

From The Canadian Press: If Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to help with the military offensive in Syria, then Jean Chrétien says that should be welcomed.

The former prime minister says Russia's involvement in the Middle Eastern conflict would spark controversy but that the West would do well to accept the support.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper has said increased Russian military support in Syria would be dangerous and he's been strident in his criticism of Putin, who is an ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Chrétien made his comments in Vancouver while bolstering support for the Liberal party's federal election campaign in British Columbia. (Photo credit: Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)